Phylicia Rashād

Known for ActingBorn 1948-06-19 (age 77)Houston, Texas, USA

Phylicia Rashad (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress. She was most recently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University before her three-year contract ended in May 2024. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Tony Awards as well as nominations for six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000), and Brenda Glover in Little Bill (1999–2004). She was also Emmy-nominated for her roles in A Raisin in the Sun (2008) and This Is Us (2019–2021). On stage, Rashad became the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, for a revival of A Raisin in the Sun (2004). She won her second Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew (2022). Her other Broadway credits include Into the Woods (1988), Jelly's Last Jam (1993), Gem of the Ocean (2004), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008). She has appeared in various films such as For Colored Girls (2010), Good Deeds (2012), Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), Creed III (2023), and The Beekeeper (2024). She lent her voice to the Disney-Pixar animated film Soul (2020). In the 21st century, she has directed revivals of three plays by August Wilson, in major theaters in Seattle, Princeton, New Jersey; and Los Angeles. She also directed Purpose (play) in its 2024-2025 run at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway.Read more

Movies & web series

NBC 75th Anniversary Special

Dinosaur - Preshow

The Broad Coalition

Free of Eden

False Witness

Polly: Comin' Home!

Station 19

This Is Us

Soul

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

David's Mother

Grey's Anatomy

Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist

Reading Rainbow

Everybody Hates Chris

Polly

Between the World and Me

Psych

The Visit

Heaven Down Here

The Cosby Show: A Look Back

Ruth & Boaz

The Gilded Age

tick, tick... BOOM!

The Good Fight

In the House

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Jailbirds

Creed

The Beekeeper

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Emmy Awards

Creed III

Sofia the First

Empire

A Fall from Grace

Creed II

Touched by an Angel

Steel Magnolias

A Different World

Little Bill

David Makes Man

Tour de Pharmacy

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Being Mary Tyler Moore

The Cosby Show

Little America

Change of Plans